There You Go Again
by illuminette
Summary: A chance meeting in the Goldenrod Tower leads to more and not in the romance department. Words are tossed back and forth and before he knows it, Ethan's having his clothing being pulled off by none other than his rival, Silver.. and, well, quite frankly, that's not going to fly with this protagonist. My first published writing on here! Please be kind. ;


"Hey, Team Rocket!"

No, no, no. He knew that voice. He knew that voice well, and it wasn't one that he wanted to hear now of all times. Sure, Ethan was usually up for battling. He loved a good challenge, but just as Oak's words had echoed many times before, there was a time and place for everything.. but that time was not now. He couldn't risk a fight here. The last thing Ethan wanted was his cover blown because of his stupid rival, but he couldn't do anything about it. The redhead was already approaching him and the dimwitted Team Rocket grunt beside him. Stifling a groan, he listened as Silver went on talking now that the red head was in front of the two uniformed boys.

"Stop going around in groups and troubling people. You cowards!"

Ah, if Ethan just kept quiet, maybe this would work.. He wouldn't be recognized and he could slip by without a battle. Silver would just yell at them and go, right? He would just leave if Ethan was lucky. If I'm lucky, he thought to himself with a grimace. When was he ever lucky when it came to Silver? The battles he had won.. Those victories were earned with skill, not luck, but.. Just this once, he bargained, let me be lucky.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Arceus was not on the Johto native's side today. His rival's gaze traveled over to him where it stayed until the realization quickly dawned on Silver's face. Ethan almost sighed, but before he could, there Silver went, talking on about him and ruining his great plan.

"…Huh? Are you Ethan?"

"No—"

"What are you doing here?"

"Well—"

"No way.. You think you're strong now that you look like them?"

"That's not—"

"That's foolish! You shouldn't wear those things!"

"Okay, okay.. No, wait, hey, don't—"

Ethan couldn't even finish his sentence before he felt the tight grip on his borrowed shirt. He couldn't believe this. Was Silver really pulling his shirt off? He didn't have time to come to a conclusion himself before it smacked him in the face. Yes, he was, and his rival sure was being rough about it, too.

His stomach felt colder as the fabric lifted up and was being pulled off of him. Ethan tried to pull it back down at first, but that plan seemed to be a failure from the start. With Silver tugging the shirt up and Ethan pulling it back down, it only seemed like the uniform was going to rip, so it was time for Plan B.

Plan B? What was Plan B? Did Ethan have a Plan B? No, he hadn't the time necessary to come up with a Plan B, but apparently his instincts made one for him. Without thinkng, he reached out with a fist and landed one right in Silver's face. It wasn't normally like Ethan to be so violent with his competition(who might as well be considered his friend in his eyes), but Silver was fucking stripping him and that was going just a little bit too far.

He knew that Silver hadn't been expecting the blow, so it was no surprise when he stumbled backwards in shock. The thing that caught him off guard was, no, not the way that his rival looked almost confused, but merely the fact that he was still holding onto his shirt and it didn't seem like he was going to be budging anytime soon. Actually, because of this, when Silver took those few steps backwards, Ethan was dragged along with him.

"Let go!" the dark haired teenager complained, his voice as sharp as a Feraligatr's teeth. He knew that if this kept up, they were both going to leave with a few more bruises than they wanted to. "Just get off of—"

The grip on his uniform loosened a little but not completely. Before Ethan had the chance to react, there was a sudden throbbing pain on his nose that he didn't like one bit. So Silver was punching back now, huh? In this case, Ethan was the one using self defense, so if they got caught like this, well, he wouldn't be the one to blame, so what was there to lose?

Glancing up to make sure that, by now, the Team Rocket grunt had ran off to find reinforcements or something, he put all of his weight into getting Silver onto the ground despite the fact that his shirt still was being pulled at. The uniform was probably going to be stretched by now, but there was no way he was giving in.

Thankfully, Ethan had caught Silver by surprise once more. That asshole was expecting another punch, not a shove, so when he found himself falling backwards onto the hard tile, he could barely save himself from hitting his head. Luckily, he raised it enough so that he didn't smash his skull and instead looked up in time to see Ethan falling on top of him.

With one hand still on Ethan's shirt, his raised his free first to aim it at Ethan's face as the glare settled on his face. Before Silver could swing, though, he was startled by something warm dripping onto his face. His eyes widened as he brought his hand up to his cheek, bringing his uncovered hand in front of his eyes so that he could see the blood.

Groaning inwardly, Ethan sat up and straddled Silver as the grip on his top gradually loosened. Almost stupidly and by instinct, the protagonist ran his tongue over the top of his lip and a metallic taste flooded into his mouth. Leaning over to spit off to the side, Ethan brought his hand up to his bloodied nose. The red liquid soaked into the glove of his uniform and he grunted in disgust, glaring down at Silver. "Are you—" He sighed over dramatically, pulling off his blood soaked glove and dropping it beside them before finishing, "Are you happy? Fuck."

Even though the plan had originally been to give Silver something to complain about in return, Ethan didn't have the heart to do so. Shifting uncomfortably from where he was sitting on Silver, he decided to just get up and abandon the scene. He pulled off his matching glove with his teeth, dropping it beside the blood soaked one on the ground. Shuffling his feet a little uneasily, he glanced back to the stairs. Ethan was sure that the grunt had alerted his superiors by now, so he had to move quick.

"Okay, whatever, Silver. Nice fight, but I have to go—"

"I see."

Ethan's gaze whipped back to his rival who was now steadily getting off of the ground, staring at the black haired boy intently. "You were trying to be sneaky…" The look in Silver's eyes wasn't particularly friendly, but it wasn't as hostile as usual, either. This took Ethan by surprise, but it was only a matter of time before they went back to normal as Silver launched his next words.

"Huh! A typical idea of the meek! No matter. I'll let you handle this."

The New Bark Town native had to bite his tongue to keep back the snarky comment that was fighting to escape. Ethan wanted to retort, '_Whatever! I was going to handle it anyway!_' but he held back, just shaking his head. Ignoring his signs of disapproval, though, Silver still went on.

"I have to defeat the Dragon Tamer.. What's his name..?" He paused momentarily, seeming to rack his thoughts for the right words to match the face. It didn't take too long, though. Silver's a quick witted guy, Ethan noted. "Lance!"

Sniffing, Ethan brought his hand up to his nose, the blood there still apparent, but some of it was drying by this point. He tilted his head up in an attempt to stop the small flow, and then wiped what had gotten on his hand onto the fabric of his pants. His attention had drifted from what Silver was saying, but the next words rang clearly in his head.

"—it will be your turn. Be ready for it!"

Before he could even say anything, his rival was off. Ethan watched him leave with a startled expression, but soon, he couldn't keep away the smile that had played it's way onto his lips. Under his breath, he mumbled, "I'll be waiting, then, Silver," and turned to face the stairs once more. A larger challenge than any that his rival could give him was awaiting Ethan now, and he had to be as prepared as he would ever be to face it. Without looking back once to see if he could spot the escaping delinquent, the young trainer took a step forwards, not knowing what he was really getting into as a small pang of fear shook his heart.

'_I'll be fine,_' he assured himself. '_I have to! Silver will be waiting to battle me, too. I won't disappoint him or any of the people of Goldenrod. I can do this._'


End file.
